Motivating & Inspiring Students. Robert J. Marzano
significance of the “I Have a Dream” speech and contextualize it by describing the brutality experienced by many protestors during the civil rights movement. Once the class understood the political and social climate leading up to King’s March on Washington, the teacher could revisit the quote and ask students to explain why Dr. King’s emphasis on nonviolence is exceptional. Visit MarzanoResources.com/reproducibles for a comprehensive list of inspirational quotations.
Altruism
Providing opportunities for students to practice altruism is a powerful strategy that directly contributes to a sense of connection to something greater than self. Simply stated, altruism is the act of assisting others without an expectation of recognition or payback. Such acts can be quite inspiring, as they allow students to transcend their current circumstances and recognize that they can positively impact the world. Depending on the time and resources available, teachers can engage students in long- and short-term projects that encourage altruistic tendencies.
It is important to note that teachers should never actively reward altruistic behavior. In fact, research has shown that rewarding selfless behaviors may actually make it less likely that individuals will engage in such behaviors when rewards are not involved (Chernyak & Kushnir, 2013; Fabes, Fultz, Eisenberg, May-Plumlee, & Christopher, 1989; Warneken & Tomasello, 2008, 2013). Rather, educators should capitalize on students’ natural proclivity toward altruism by providing them with opportunities to volunteer and, afterward, prompting reflection on their experiences. These activities encourage students to view altruism positively and heighten their sense of connection to something greater than self, regardless of the degree to which the activities are voluntary.
There are a number of ways students can be engaged in altruistic activities while at school. Participation in volunteer days is an increasingly common practice that helps students experience the positive benefits of altruism. There are a number of pre-established events—such as Earth Day (www.earthday.org), Make a Difference Day (http://makeadifferenceday.com), and Pay It Forward Day (http://payitforwardday.com)—that encourage nationwide volunteerism on a specific date. Teachers or students can also design their own service projects that are specific to the unique needs of their communities and schedules. Table 2.2 (page 16) provides a list of examples of such projects. In addition, teachers can provide lists of local charities that may need volunteers or remind students of service-oriented community events.
Rather than rewarding altruistic behaviors, teachers can guide students through reflection activities that help them see how helping others is a powerful and positive experience. To this end, teachers can use the following questions to prompt discussion after service activities.
▸ How do you think your actions positively affected others?
▸ How does it make you feel to know that you have positively impacted someone else’s life?
▸ Has someone done something nice for you without the expectation of receiving something in return? How did this make you feel?
If students doubt the importance of their role in volunteering, teachers can ask relevant community organizers involved in the volunteer day to speak about the impact of the students’ actions or, if possible, provide data and statistics to this effect. Teachers could also provide examples of the lasting impact of other students’ altruistic actions on their communities. For example, Isaac McFarland of Shreveport, Louisiana, distributed three thousand backpacks filled with food and hygiene products to homeless students, local shelters, and rescue missions on Make a Difference Day in 2014 (Spradlin, 2015). Following are a few other examples of altruistic actions by students adapted from Lesli Amos (2014).
Table 2.2: Example Service Projects
| Length of Project | Example Projects |
| One-Time Projects | • Donate blood.• Write thank-you letters or create care packages for troops deployed overseas.• Write a letter to a politician about an important issue (for example, Amnesty International has a campaign called Write for Rights that students can participate in).• Collect donations for a specific charity over a length of time and donate them after a specific date (for example, have students collect and donate clothes, blankets, nonperishable foods, books, toys, hygiene products, and so on).• Clean up the neighborhoods, community areas, or parks surrounding the school.• Organize a bake sale and donate proceeds to a specific cause.• Participate in a charity competition event (for example, Race for the Cure or Relay for Life).• Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF (www.unicefusa.org/trick-or-treat).• Spend time with and assist people in nursing homes. |
| Ongoing Projects | • Tutor younger students.• Participate in mentorship programs.• Provide a service for the school (for example, develop a program in which students reshelve books in the library or clean up trash on campus once a month).• Partner with a local organization and make repeated visits to volunteer there. |
Source: Adapted from Amos, 2014.
▸ At the age of nine, Neha Gupta established her organization, Empower Orphans, which focuses on providing education and health care to orphaned children. The organization has helped more than twenty-five thousand children globally.
▸ At the age of nine, Katie Stagliano started planting fruits and vegetables in her garden to help the hungry and eventually founded her organization, Katie’s Krops, which has helped feed thousands of people.
▸ At the age of ten, Zach Certner founded SNAP, which develops athletic programs for children with special needs.
▸ At the age of ten, LuLu Cerone founded LemonAID Warriors, which challenges kids to make social activism a part of their social lives.
▸ At the age of twelve, Jonathan Woods established the Under the Tree Foundation, which provides gifts to underprivileged teens during the holidays.
▸ At the age of thirteen, Claire Fraise established her organization, Lucky Tails Animal Rescue, which provides second chances for dogs that would otherwise be euthanized.
▸ At the age of fourteen, Jordyn Schara founded WI P2D2 (Wisconsin Prescription Pill and Drug Disposal), which helps people dispose of medications in an environmentally friendly and safe way.
▸ At the age of fifteen, Shannon McNamara started SHARE, which provides thousands of girls in Africa with books and school supplies.
Teachers can share such examples with students to highlight the impact young people and their altruistic actions can have on their communities. As students engage in altruistic behaviors and see this impact firsthand, they are by definition experiencing brief moments of a connection to something greater than self.
Empathy
Empathy is a direct pathway to a connection to something greater than self. When we experience empathy, we transcend our natural tendency to focus exclusively on our own needs and goals. Before teachers can expect students to practice empathy, however, they must understand the meaning of the term. Empathy is often confused with sympathy, and while both relate to others’ feelings, they are not the same. When we empathize with someone, we attempt to understand his or her perspective or circumstances as a means to connect on a deeper level, while sympathy involves commiseration and feeling sorry for others.
Examples of Empathy
There are a number of resources that provide examples of empathic behavior or highlight the differences between empathy and sympathy. To this end, educators can find stories from history and literature and incorporate them into class time. For an example from literature, students could be asked to consider Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White (1952). In the book, Charlotte,